High-flying Girona preparing for debut in European competition

There are still nine matchdays left in LaLiga to be played and 27 points to play for, but few doubt that Girona will play in Europe next season. Time will tell if they end up in the Champions League or Europa League, but looking at the table, they will definitely be in one of the two top continental competitions. The Rojiblancos are currently third on 62 points - six points clear of Athletic Club with the top four teams heading straight into next season’s Champions League.

Founded in 1930, Girona have spent just four seasons in the Spanish top flight. Before this season, their best finish was 10th.

Girona heading to Europe for the first time

Even if they were to drop out of the top four, they still have a sizable lead over their closest pursuers. Atlético in fifth, are seven points behind and Betis, in seventh are a massive 20 points away. That is a massive distance and one that is practically impossible to overturn at this stage of the campaign. Only a total disaster would prevent seeing Girona will compete in European competition for the first time next season which is why the club has set the wheels in motion to renew its UEFA license.

Last year, when they were on the verge of competing in the preliminary phase of the Europa Conference League (Osasuna beat them to it), they received their license and this year there would be no problems in securing it again. The procedure, which is carried out through the Royal Spanish Football Federation, is very simple, but not something that can be left until the last minute.

Could Girona face Manchester City in the Champions League?

To obtain the UEFA license and be able to compete in the Champions League, Europa League or Conference League, certain requirements must be met concerning club infrastructure, legal and economic issues. Girona takes such matters very seriously and will follow UEFA’s guidelines to the letter. Girona are owned by City Football Group Limited (CFG), so what would happen if they were drawn against Manchester City in the Champions League group stage? The answer is simple: nothing. Girona must make, and will make, some small adjustments at top management level within the Board of Directors, to make its independence clear and that’s is all that needs to be done. Manchester City and Girona are both under the umbrella of the CFG, but it will be detailed to UEFA that no one from the City Group makes decisions within Girona and that there will be no commercials exchanges or transfer of players between the clubs during the campaign.

There already have been several examples of timeshare in European competitions. One example is Aston Villa and Victória Guimarães, both owned by V Sports, who both took part in this season’s Europa Conference League. However they never crossed paths - Victória were eliminated by Celje in the second qualifying rounds while Villa are still going strong, they face Lille in the quarter finals.

What the UEFA regulations handbook does indicate is that the clubs will not sign any type of cooperation, nor joint technical or commercial agreements; They will not use any joint scouting or player database. And the most important: the clubs will not transfer players to each other, either permanently or on loan, directly or indirectly, until September of the following season (in the case of Girona and Manchester City, September 2025 ). For practical purposes, this would make it impossible for example for Yan Couto to continue on loan (unless the deal is closed before the summer). The same with Savinho, who already has an agreement with City to sign from Troyes, and could not come via Manchester. This also applies to Argentine Claudio Echeverri who is on loan at River Plate until January 2025.

Girona have nothing to worry about and all of the relevant procedures are already being implemented. At the infrastructure level, work is also being done to get their stadium up to UEFA standards - the idea is to invest around 20 million euros to build construction stands in both Preferente and Gol Norte. UEFA prevents the use of retractable stands in its competitions, so it is mandatory to carry out works. The idea is to start working on the stadium on 27 May, after the last league game in Montilivi, and have it ready for the start of September.